I liked this little walk through a book world:
This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.
This stop motion film was made for 4th Estate Publisher's 25th anniversary. I don't know anything about this particular publisher or its books, but I loved the image of the little man coming out of a volume and walking through a world of books. (By the way, if you have trouble watching it, be sure to click the HD IS OFF button.)When I was a little girl, I couldn't help feeling that there was something magically alive about books. That if one could only find the key, one could, like Gumby, slip inside a favorite title and live in its world. Though I suppose it would feel dreadfully Calvinist to live inside a book you'd already read. Everything would seem depressingly preordained. (I recall in Edgar Eager's Time Garden, when the children wrangled a trip into Little Women from the Natterjack, how relieved they were that Beth was home with a cold that day rather than out sledding with Jo and Laurie. They'd felt a bit queasy at the thought of meeting her, knowing that she dies in the second volume.
Or perhaps a book's characters might somehow slip into our world. I still recall a very old cartoon (Was it a Max Fleisher or a Warner Brothers?) which took place in a bookstore. During the night the book characters crept out and frolicked on the shelves. Seemed plausible to me.
2 comments:
What? Beth dies in the 2nd volume?!? Thanks a lot.
:) Just kidding. This is just too cool! (not that Beth dies) but this little video. I love books. I might have come here a while back an commented,but my Grandmother was librarian in a small Nebraska town, and I grew up with a love for books. Not school books, sadly, just reading all the books that I loved over and over again. I loved going to "pick out" another book to take home for the month! I never had to pay a fee if they were overdue either! :) Have you ever heard of Mr. Pudgins? It was a favorite and I still have it. Also another favorite, Edith the Lonely Doll. Alice in Wonderland from the 50's has such great artwork as so many did back then. Now it seems the art is not nearly as captivating...or maybe it's just me. I've not seen too many contemporary childrens books lately, but what I've seen may be "cute" but not nearly as intricate and enchanting. Great blog! God bless.
The Lonely Doll was an absolute favorite when I was a very small girl! Loved it, loved it, loved it! When my own daughter was young I finally found and bought a copy. I was disappointed that she didn't seem to care for it. But I got to keep it for my collection, so everyone was happy.
Have not heard of Mr. Pudgins, but I will have a look round for it. I work as an aide at our public library, so I can request interlibrary loan with no fees.
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